Friday, December 12, 2014

Arkansas City Votes Men OUT of Women's Restrooms

Immediately after the Fayetteville, Arkansas city council approved a Gay Agenda ordinance in August, residents garnered more than 5,000 petition signatures to put Ordinance 119 on a special election ballot, and this week citizens voted to repeal the entire ordinance, which infringed on religious liberty and included a right for cross-dressing men to use women's restrooms.

Voters turned out in record numbers for a special election, according to the election commission. The final numbers revealed 7,523 (52%) voted for the repeal while 7,040 (48%) against, passing the issue by less than 500 votes. Around 29% of Fayetteville's registered voters cast ballots in this special election.

According to the city, 'Repeal 119,' a group made up of local residents, business owners and church members, turned in the required signatures to put the ordinance on hold.

'Repeal 119' took issue with the wording of Ordinance 119 saying it created an "environment where sexual predators can use the cover of an anti-discrimination law to enter previously gender-private areas causing a major public safety risk." They also said portions of the policy language could "put businesses in danger of being criminally charged for the complaints of a disgruntled employee."

Duncan Campbell, a local minister and president of Repeal 119, said the outcome of the vote indicates the residents of Fayetteville want it to be a free city. He also said voters who voted against repeal misunderstood those who wanted the ordinance repealed.

“We wanted to repeal the ordinance because we didn’t believe it made Fayetteville a fairer city or a freer city,” Campbell said. “It did just the opposite. It was called the Civil Rights Ordinance, but it was misnamed. It was an ordinance that actually took away civil rights and freedom from people. It criminalized civil behavior. It didn’t accomplish the stated purpose of the ordinance and it was crafted by an outside group, it wasn’t something Fayetteville residents put together.”

The city council amended the original ordinance, but the law's foes believed the measure still threatened freedoms of religion and conscience. Among their concerns:

-- Churches could have been prosecuted if they refused to hire gay or transgender people for "secular" staff posts.

-- Christian schools and bookstores could have been required to violate their beliefs in their employment practices.

-- Business owners with religious objections could have been prosecuted for declining to provide their services for same-sex weddings or commitment ceremonies.

[Ronnie] Floyd, current president of the Southern Baptist Convention, added a concern in his widely distributed blog that, "Pastors face fines and potential jail time if they refuse to marry a gay couple. These fines could reach $8,500 in the first 30 days, and if not paid, they could be put in jail."

A city ordinance in Fayetteville, Ark, dubbed the transgender bathroom bill because it allows biological males who claim they are females to use restroom facilities for women, was overturned on Tuesday, Dec. 9, largely because of the intense lobbying efforts of Michelle Duggar, the matriarch of the reality-TV show 19 Kids & Counting, carried by The Learning Channel.

In criticizing the ordinance, Mrs. Duggar had said that it affected “the safety of Northwest Arkansas women and children” because it would “allow men – yes, I said men – to use women’s and girls’ restrooms, locker rooms, showers, sleeping areas and other areas that are designated for females only. I don’t believe the citizens of Fayetteville would want males with past child predator convictions that claim they are female to have a legal right to enter private areas that are reserved for women and girls.”

State Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, said he and other legislator are writing a bill that would keep cities, like Fayetteville, from creating their own civil rights ordinances.

“You can’t have a different civil rights ordinance in every city, and every county, in this state,” Hester said.

“Businesses can’t function that way, you have to have some continuity,” he said. “A city, or county, in the state of Arkansas cannot have civil rights ordinances that is any more restrictive than that of the federal government.”

“[Federal civil rights include] race, color, religion, national origin, disability,” Hester said. “Those type of civil rights are protected, and they should be protected. Those are things that make us part of America, and that make us treat everyone equally.”